#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
Youโve never read a book like The Reason I Jump. Written by Naoki Higashida, a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old boy with autism, it is a one-of-a-kind memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. Parents and family members who never thought they could get inside the head of their autistic loved one at last have a way to break through to the curious, subtle, and complex life within.
Using an alphabet grid to painstakingly construct words, sentences, and thoughts that he is unable to speak out loud, Naoki answers even the most delicate questions that people want to know. Questions such as: โWhy do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly?โ โWhy do you line up your toy cars and blocks?โ โWhy donโt you make eye contact when youโre talking?โ and โWhatโs the reason you jump?โ (Naokiโs answer: โWhen Iโm jumping, itโs as if my feelings are going upward to the sky.โ) With disarming honesty and a generous heart, Naoki shares his unique point of view on not only autism but life itself. His insightsโinto the mystery of words, the wonders of laughter, and the elusiveness of memoryโare so startling, so strange, and so powerful that you will never look at the world the same way again.
In his introduction, bestselling novelist David Mitchell writes that Naokiโs words allowed him to feel, for the first time, as if his own autistic child was explaining what was happening in his mind. โIt is no exaggeration to say that The Reason I Jump allowed me to round a corner in our relationship.โ This translation was a labor of love by David and his wife, KA Yoshida, so theyโd be able to share that feeling with friends, the wider autism community, and beyond. Naokiโs book, in its beauty, truthfulness, and simplicity, is a gift to be shared.